James Bannon (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, whose roots are in County Westmeath, to take this important matter. I have brought it before the House to highlight the appalling lack of sewerage facilities in Rathowen, County Westmeath, and to ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to clarify the position on the commencement of the scheme. Provision of the scheme is urgently required in the interests of the environment, health, residential and commercial interests and tourism in the area. Rathowen is within three miles of my home but is in County Westmeath. It is unbelievable that the more than 300 people who live in the village on the N4 are forced to use often unreliable septic tanks in what should be a showcase area. This is the only village between Longford and Dublin without a modern sewerage system in place. It is detrimental to the health of the residents and has far-reaching environmental implications for the area. The lack of a viable system is delaying developments, both housing and commercial, curtailing the building of private local authority schemes and impacting badly on tourism. As the Minister of State knows, there are interesting lakes in the vicinity, including Lough Owel, Lough Ennell and Lough Derravaragh. The village is also close to the River Inny.

The village of Rathowen is not getting the investment it requires because of delays in providing this urgently needed scheme. The people of Rathowen are becoming very impatient with the excessive bureaucracy and red tape. Planning for a new infrastructure is almost at a standstill and would move ahead rapidly if the sewerage scheme was provided. The lack of progress on the scheme has meant a fall off in pupils entering the primary school as the same housing development is not taking place there as in other parishes. It also has major implications for the future of the village, and the increasing population of its hinterland. More and more once-off houses are being developed because of the lack of proper sewerage facilities in the village. There have been excessive delays at every stage of this much needed scheme and I ask the Minister of State to assure me that it will be put in place without further delay.

The scheme has gone through preliminary report stage and on the request of the Department a report based on the polluter pays principle was submitted. The preliminary report is awaiting approval before the tender procedure will follow, with contracts then being awarded. However, we hear that work will not commence until 2008. I received this detail in a letter from Westmeath County Council last week. This timeframe is totally unrealistic. Will the Minister of State indicate when it is anticipated that construction work will realistically commence?

A Government Deputy from north Westmeath told the people of Rathowen two years ago that funding had been ring-fenced for this scheme, which would be fully constructed by 2005. So much for his promise. I would like the Minister of State to assure me that funding has definitely been ring-fenced for the Rathowen project. Senator O'Rourke has been contacted in this regard also.

We are not happy with the long delay nor are we happy with the letter I received from Westmeath County Council, dated 9 November, stating that considering the process and the various approvals required at various stages of the project, it anticipated that a contractor would commence work during 2008. That will be after the next general election. We do not understand why there is such a delay when we were promised that funding would be delivered and the sewerage scheme completed during this Government.

I thank the Minister of State. I hope he has taken notice of what I have said, that he conveys it to the Minister and that he will write the cheque next week to ensure this important infrastructure for Rathowen is constructed immediately.